


Taking Flight

by wherethefrickismyblackwidowmovie



Series: Winterfalcon Ficlets [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bottom Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Captain America Sam Wilson, Falling In Love, Intimacy, Love Confessions, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, POV Bucky Barnes, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sam Wilson has PTSD, Sleeping Together, cinematic kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-19 21:23:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19980715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherethefrickismyblackwidowmovie/pseuds/wherethefrickismyblackwidowmovie
Summary: The first time it’s after they get back from a mission.





	Taking Flight

The first time it’s after they get back from a mission, and they’re both bone tired but giddy with victory, leaning on each other, laughing. Bucky gets that deep ache in his heart that Sam always makes him feel these days. The space between them suddenly feels heavy with the weight of everything Bucky wishes for, yearns for, and he lets his hand linger on Sam’s shoulder a bit longer than usual.

“We kicked a lot of ass today, didn’t we.”

Once again Bucky’s overcome with how fucking gorgeous Sam is, on the battlefield all suited up, impulsive as hell and twice as brave–and when the fight is over, in these quite moments when they’re both exhausted where no one gets to see him but Bucky. The way he looks when he’s half asleep in the morning. The way he looks drinking his coffee, scrolling through the news on his phone. Amidst the constant missions and time on the run, Bucky likes those mundane moments most of all.

“Hell yeah,” Sam replies, and this time he smiles at Bucky a little longer than usual, with a curious look in his eye. 

The space between them suddenly feels charged with electricity. Bucky forgets to look away. _Can’t_ look away as Sam’s eyes flicker down to his lips. He feels them tilting towards each other as if drawn by some magnetic force, something inevitable.

The next thing he knows they’re kissing, and he’s got Sam up against the wall, and Sam’s hands are fisted in his shirt, and Bucky can’t stop to think about how fast his heart is pounding. They’re kissing hard, barely taking time to breathe. They make it to the bed, stumbling, and Sam’s asking him breathlessly if he wants this, and Bucky tells him _yes, I need this, I need you_ by the way he kisses him, frantic, hungry. 

And it’s after they’ve lost their clothes, and Sam’s leg is over one of Bucky’s shoulders and Sam is gasping against Bucky’s ear, digging his fingers into his back, that Bucky pulls back to press his forehead against Sam’s. Sam’s hands come up to cup his face and bring him into a kiss, and Bucky feels like he’s almost flying, but some part of him is still afraid to leave the ground–because it’s terrifying to open his heart like this, and a part of him feels trapped in the past where he’s hurting and alone and unwilling to believe this is all real, that he can let his walls down.

–

They don’t have time to talk about it in the morning, or throughout the day, and when their next mission is finally over, they just end up tangled in Sam’s bed again. They’re both soaked with sweat by the time they’ve finished, and Bucky is lying between Sam’s legs, Sam’s hands in his hair as they lazily kiss. 

It’s like when they start touching they can’t stop. Bucky doesn’t know where they’re headed. He knows part of him should be scared of how Sam has become so important to him.

But Sam’s never been one to look before he jumps, so Bucky follows suit. He doesn’t let it scare him. He lies next to Sam as Sam traces slow patterns on his chest and watches a smile rise into Sam’s eyes.

It’s always on the tip of Bucky’s tongue–how much Sam means to him. He’s ashamed for not saying it out loud.

– 

It’s something that comes up, sharing Sam’s bed–the restless nights when Sam can’t get to sleep, or sleeps only to wake again and again. Sometimes Sam is overwhelmed by anxiety out of the blue, his thoughts racing, his whole body refusing to relax like a wire pulled tight. He gradually tells Bucky about Riley. It comes out in bits and pieces. He tells him about how much he hates being gripped by that old terror, how it feels like sometimes he can’t move on, can’t even begin to sort out the jumble of thoughts in his head. 

The fact that Sam wants to tell him, because Sam is seeking comfort in him–that realization feels like something blooming in Bucky’s chest, fighting against the anxiety constricting him.

Sometimes Bucky misses the days in Wakanda he didn’t need to use his prosthetic. He takes it off, feels the cool air on the exposed flesh where the scar tissue aches. And _aches_. Sometimes his chest is tight for no reason, and his heart pounds in warning of dangers that are absent and have been absent for a long time. On a bad day his body feels like reminder of a cold room and being strapped into a chair before sinking into a fog of—he tries to shake it away as an ocean of panic almost comes up to swallow him. He doesn’t have to be that person anymore.

–

Bucky savors those quiet moments in Sam’s bed in the morning, where he lies in Sam’s arms, his prosthetic discarded, and forgets about the rest of the world like it’s a goddamn act of rebellion. Bucky thinks Sam savors those moments too. He thinks about how Sam brushes his hair back from his face, and looks at him with a bright fond smile before slowly kissing him good morning.

They take care of each other’s injuries. They fight on battlefields, too many to count. They have sleepy morning sex and tear each other’s clothes off and laugh themselves silly in bed late at night.

–

Bucky is glad Sam insisted on adding a parachute to his gear, because it seems like one day Sam was mentioning it would be a smart thing to do (”You’re not actually indestructible, Barnes”) and the next moment Bucky’s falling over the side of a building. He opens his parachute just as has sees Sam swoop into view. Whether it’s the adrenaline or the sheer length of time he’s been wanting, _waiting_ to confess these words, he finds himself yelling “SAM, I THINK I’M FALLING FOR YOU,” into the comms.

“I THINK YOU ALREADY DID,” comes Sam’s reply.

Sam intercepts Bucky in an instant, catching him, wrapping an arm around his waist and slicing the parachute free with one of his wings.

“No, I meant–”

“Babe, I know what you meant,” Sam says, for only Bucky to hear. He lifts his goggles, looks into Bucky’s eyes, and smiles. “I love you too.” He slings the shield around Bucky’s back so he can wrap both arms around him as he blasts off into the sky, and kisses him on the mouth. Bucky’s world spins.

**Author's Note:**

> the deserve the hug-and-fly, and they deserve the hug-and-fly KISS. and if anyone feels like drawing it I would love you until the end of time.


End file.
